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Young women busted with 200 lbs of cocaine on cruise

Posted: Sep 01 2016 11:54AM EDT

Updated: Sep 01 2016 11:58AM EDT

SYDNEY (AP) — Two young beauties were among three Canadian cruise ship passengers charged with drug smuggling after Sydney police allegedly found 209 pounds of cocaine in their cabin luggage. The haul valued at 31 million Australian dollars ($23 million) was the largest seizure in Australia of narcotics carried by passengers of a cruise ship or airliner, Australian Border Force commander Tim Fitzgerald said.

The three did not enter pleas when they were charged in the Sydney Central Local Court with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine. They face potential life sentences if convicted.

They will remain in custody until their next court appearance on Oct. 26.

The trio had boarded the ship at the British port city of Southampton. Police are investigating whether they boarded with the drugs or sourced them from one of several South American ports the ship visited on its way to Australia.

Fitzgerald thanked the U.S. Department of Homelands Security and the Canada Border Services Agency for helping identify the three as "high-risk passengers" among the 1,800 on board.

Fitzgerald alleged 35 kilograms (77 pounds) of cocaine were found in suitcases in a cabin the women shared and 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of the drug were found in the man's luggage in a separate cabin.